Shoe shining enveloped pad



R. E. KARCHER, JR

SHOE SHINING ENVELOPED PAD Original Filed March 27. 1963 Nov. 16, 1965 United States Patent O 3,217,353 4 SHOE SHINING ENVELOPED PAD Robert E. Karcher, Jr., Rockport, Mass., assignor to K. Il'. Quinn & Co., Inc., Malden, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Continuation of application Ser. No. 269,234, Mar. 27, 1963. This application Dec. 9, 1964, Ser. No. 420,244 3 Claims. (Si. 11S-506) This is a continuation of my prior application Serial No. 269,234, filed March 27, 1963, which is a continuation-in-part of my prior application Serial No. 226,972, filed September 28, 1962, both of which are now abandoned.

The present invention relates to a thin, flat cellulosic pad carrying a predetermined quantity of an aqueous polish and sealed in an envelope.

It is a common experience to find that ones shoes need shining at a time when it is impossible or inconvenient to have them polished. There is, accordingly, a real need for such an envelope pad that can be carried in a pocket to be instantly available, when the occasion demands, to enable the shoes to be cleaned while the polish is being wiped on them with the pad with the polish drying with a lustrous finish. It will be apparent that the polish must be substantially odorless lest the fact that the shoes were recently shined be too obvious, particularly with some odors that are either unpleasant, longlasting, or both. It is even more essential, however, that the polish be non-toxic as, unavoidably, the fingers of the user will have some of the polish transferred to them directly from the pad during the application of the polish to the shoes and the great likelihood is that the fingers will come in contact with the mouth sometime before the hands can be thoroughly washed.

While the principal object of the invention is to provide such enveloped pads, other objectives will be apparent from a consideration of the requirements as they relate to polishes, and those pertaining to the pads.

The requirements of a polish are that it must be capable of cleaning a shoe as it is wiped with a pad leaving a flexible, water resistant and natural looking, brightdrying film of substantially uniform thickness even on a highly waxed part of a shoe. The polish must contain a resin and wax with enough wax in the film so that, for example, if the shoes are bumped together, the film will not be scuffed off. In addition, the film must permit a solvent base polish to be applied thereto and it must also be easily removed as with alcohol or soap and hot water. While the composition of the polish and the functions of its ingredients will be subsequently detailed, it may be noted, at this time, that the polish is aqueous and dries bright without the necessity of bufiing.

The requirements of a pad `are that it be capable of holding a predetermined volume of the polish and be sufficiently rough surfaced for cleaning use. While the pad must hold enough polish to ensure that a pair of shoes can be effectively shined, it must not release the polish too freely in order to prevent objectionable amounts from contacting the fingers and to ensure smooth and even release, as the shoes are being wiped. In practice, there is no free polish in the envelope and, if the pad rests on a surface, substantially no polish escaped therefrom. In addition, the pad must be capable of maintaining its physical structure in use because, if it tends to break apart as the shoes are wiped with it, the foregoing requirements cannot be realized.

In accordance with the invention, the pads are cut from sheets of cellulosic material, such as cellulose sponge 3,217,353 Patented' Nov. 16, 1965 HF ICC stock or of non-woven cellulosic sheeting, said sheeting being so prepared as to ensure that the wet strength of the pad is sufiicient to prevent structural change in use, the pad to be essentially free of chemicals which might affect the properties and stability of the polish.

Such materials, if exposed to water for any appreciable length of time, such as that reasonably required for the distribution and use of the enveloped pads, become so physically changed that they may be incapable of functioning in the indicated manner. For that reason, the invention provides for the use of preservatives in the polish to prevent such disintegration without adversely affecting the polish.

In the accompanying drawings, there is shown an illustrative embodiment of the invention from which and the following detailed description thereof and of the composition of the polish, these and other of its objectives, novel features, and advantages Will be readily apparent.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view, on an increased scale, of the envelope in which the polish carrying pad is sealed,

FIGURE 2 is a section taken approximately along the indicated lines 2 2 of FIGURE 1, and

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the pad.

In accordance with invention, a pad 5, containing a predetermined quantity of polishing liquid, is packaged within a generally indicated envelope 6. In practice, an envelope comprising a foil layer 7 and an inner plastic film S, polyethylene, for example, and an outer paper layer 9 with the layers marginally heat sealed has proved satisfactory in use.

The pad 5 is shown as a rectangular sheet which may be either cellulose sponge or a non-woven fabric of cellulose bers that have been processed to an extent that ensures that its wet strength is such that its structure will not be altered as shoes are wiped with it. In practice, the pads are each approximately 11/2 x 15/8 x 1A" and hold about 2 cc. polish without being noticeably wet when held as by thumb and foreiinger. When a pad 5 is removed from its envelope 6, there is no liquid left therein unless the pad has been compressed as it was unpackaged.

An example of the polish is as follows:

Percent Acrylic terpolymer emulsion 18.75 Wax emulsion 50.00 Leveller emulsion 6.25 Ammonium hydroxide (28%) 0.78 Preservative 0.10 Water 24.12

In the above example, the percentages are in terms of volume and to the polish any desired industrial odorant is added.

The composition on a solids basis and the usable ranges are as follows:

Range Acrylic terpolymer, 43% 30-60 Wax, 41% 60-30 Emulsil'iers, 12% 10-15 Leveller agent 3.4% 2-5 Preservative, 0.6% 0.61.2

The composition on a total weight basis is as follows:

Range percent Acrylic terpolymer 7.73 Wax 7.37 Emulsifiers 2 .2 1 Leveller agent 0.59 Preservative 0.10

Water 82.00

The composition of the acrylic terpolymer emulsion (40% solids) is as follows:

The ethyl acrylate contributes softness and adhesion, while methyl methacrylate adds firmness and toughness. The methacrylic acid contributes both to emulsion stability and to adhesion and can be increased up to 5% while the others may be used in Widely varied ratios with different film properties resulting.

Styrene may be used in place of methyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate may be substituted for ethyl acrylate, and acrylic acid may be used in place of methacrylic acid.

The polymer used provides a bright, natural looking, flexible ilm when mixed with wax that resists the pickup of dirt and that will not break when ileXed. The film also has sufficient water and solvent resistance so that the lrn will not be spotted by rain nor cut by a solvent base shoe polish that is applied over it.

The composition of the wax emulsion (18% solids) is as follows:

Percent Carnauba wax 12.5 Oleic acid 2.75 Morpholine 2.75 Water 82.00

Other emulsiable waxes that may be used are oxidized microcrystalline wax, synthetic waxes produced by the Fischer-Tropsch Process, and such waxes produced from montan wax. In the wax emulsion formula stearic acid can be used in place of oleic acid and 2-amino-2 methyl-1 propanol can be used for morpholine.

The composition of thet leveller emulsion (13% solids) is a follows:

Percent Tri-butoxyethyl phosphate 9.67 Alkylphonoxy polyethoxy ethanol 3.33 Water 87.00

The primary function of the leveller emulsion is to cause the polish to ow and level lto leave a smooth, even film that is free from streaks and blotches. Other emulsifiers may be used.

Preservatives must be used to prevent the aqueous polish from destroying the essential features of the pads.

'Amongthose usable are tr-i butyl tin chloride complex of ethylene oxide condensate of abietyl amine, esters of parahydroxy benzoic acid, salicylanilide, and dodecyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium cyclopentane carboxylate salt. These are all non-toxic and sufficiently odorless and colorless to meet requirements, and with the exception of dodecyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium cyclopentane carboxylate salt -are water soluble and the latter is water dispersible when used with a wetting agent. These preservatives may be used in amounts in the approximate range of from 0.10% to 1.0% by Weight of the combination and, in this range, the pad is adequately preserved without affecting such essential characteristics of the acrylic polymer or polymers as its drying quickly without loss of brightness.

1n ad-dition, the pH range of the polish -is from 9 to 9.5, a characteristic determined by the amount of arnmonium hydroxide present. This and the emulsiiiers also act as cleaning agents and the ammonia also functions as a preservative and aids in product stability.

With the use of a polish consisting of the ingredients and in the ranges as above set forth, the impregnated pads retain their essential characteristics in spite of the water necessarily present in the polish.

I claim:

1l. A marginally sealed package containing a cleaning and polish applicator pad for shoes, said applicator pad being impregnated with a suicient amount of an aqueous base polish to cover at least one pair of shoes, said applicator pad being composed of an absorbent substantially unaltered cellulosic material having voids, said pad also having a sucient thickness so that the impregnated polish can readily be released therefrom by depression of the pad and having a sufficiently rough surface to cause cleaning upon contact of the impregnated pad with the smooth shoe surface and having suicient strength to resist physical degradation during such contact, said polish having a pH between 9 and 9.5 and containing an aqueous emulsion consisting essentially of an acrylic terpolymer formed by copolymerizing 1) ethyl acrylate or butyl acrylate, (2) methylmethacrylate or styrene and (3) a low molecular weight acrylic acid, Said methylmethacrylate and styrene being used in a sutlicient amount to provide a rm, tough film when applied to a shoe and dried and a sufficient amount of a low molecular weight acrylic acid to cause adhesion between the terpolymer and a wax base paste polish, said terpolymer being insoluble in conventional was base paste solvents, and an aqueous wax emulsion in a suicient amount to minimize sculing and to permit eliminationof scuti marks by bufng, and a preservative for the pad to prevent degradation of the celn lulosic material upon prolonged contact with lthe water contained in the aqueous polish, said preservative being non-toxic, substantially odorless and colorless and being present in sufficient amounts to prevent degradation of the cellulose material over prolonged periods of time but insuicient to prevent any inter-action or degradation of the acrylic terpolymer contained in the polish.

2. The marginally sealed package of claim 1 in which the preservative is selected from at least one member of the group consisting of dodecyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium cyclopentane carboxylate salt, esters of parahydroxy benzoie acid, salicylanilide, and tributyl tin chloride complexes of ethylene oxide condensates of abietyl amine and in which the amount of preservative is present in the approximate range of from 0.10% to 1.0%.

3. The marginally sealed package of claim 1 in which the aqueous base polish contains between about 30 to 60 percent on a solids basis of the acrylic terpolymer and between about 60 to 30% on a solids basis of the wax.

References Cited `by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,057,500 10/1936 OConnor 15-506 2,071,365 2/1937 Stroop 15--506 2,606,165 8/1952 Chapin et al 260-29.6 X 2,631,322 3/1953 Kaheny 15--506 2,999,265 9/1961 Duane et al. 15-506 3,037,039 5/1962 Mazur 167-30 CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner. 

1. A MARGINALLY SEALED PACKAGE CONTAINING A CLEANING AND POLISH APPLICATOR PAD FOR SHOES, SAID APPLICATOR PAD BEING IMPREGNATED WITH A SUFFICIENT AMOUNT OF AN AQUEOUS BASE POLISH TO COVER AT LEAST ONE PAIR OF SHOES, SAID APPLICATOR PAD BEING COMPOSED OF AN ABSORBENT SUBSTANTIALLY UNALTERED CELLULOSIC MATERIAL HAVING VOIDS, SAID PAD ALSO HAVING A SUFFICIENT THICKNESS SO THAT THE IMPREGNATED POLISH CAN READILY BE RELEASED THEREFROM BY DEPRESSION OF THE PAD AND HAVING A SUFFICIENTLY ROUGH SURFACE TO CAUSE CLEANING UPON CONTACT OF THE IMPREGNATED PAD WITH THE SMOOTH SHOE SURFACE AND HAVING SUFFICIENT STRENGTH TO RESIST PHYSICAL DEGRADATION DURING SUCH CONTACT, SAID POLISH HAVING A PH BETWEEN 9 AND 9.5 AND CONTAINING AN AQUEOUS EMULSION CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF AN ACRYLIC TERPOLYMER FORMED BY COPOLYMERIZING (1) ETHYL ACRYLATE OR BUTYL ACRYLATE, (2) METHYLMETHACRYLATE OR STYRENE AND (3) A LOW MOLECULAR WEIGHT ACRYLIC ACID, SAID METHYLMETHACRYLATE AND STYRENE BEING USED IN A SUFFICIENT AMOUNT TO PROVIDE A FIRM, TOUGH FILM WHEN APPLIED TO A SHOE AND DRIED AND A SUFFICIENT AMOUNT OF A LOW MOLECULAR WEIGHT ACRYLIC ACID TO CAUSE ADHESION BETWEEN THE TERPOLYMER AND A WAX BASE PASTE POLISH, SAID TERPOLYMER BEING INSOLUBLE IN CON- 